Scanning finger for electromechanical punch card scanner

ABSTRACT

An adjustable scanning finger for electromechanical punch card scanners has a resilient element which is urged into contact with a microswitch actuator upon sensing movement of the rigid finger. Adjustment is carried out by means of a set screw.

United States Patent 1191 Kunz Au 28, 1973 [54] SCANNING FINGER FOR2,475,307 7/1949 Brand et al. 235/6111 c ELECTROMECHANICAL PUNCH C ARD'3,030,465 4/1962 Roeser 200/ 153 T SCANNER FOREIGN PATENTS ORAPPLICATIONS Inventor: y y Kunz, Mafmorveien 5 1,467,245 12/1966 France200/153 T Oslo, Norway [22] Filed: Sept. 27, 1971 PrimaryExaminer-Thomas A. Robinson [2]] App] No 184 258 Attorney-Dexter N. Shawet al'.

[52] US. Cl 235/61. C, 200/153 T [57] I ABSTRACT 7f 9 An adjustablescanning finger for electromechanical 235/61 B 61 H punch card scannershas a resilient element which is urged into contact with a microswitchactuator upon [56] Reierences Cited sensing movement of the rigidfinger. Adjustment is UNITED STATES PATENTS Lund 200/153 T carried outby means of a set screw.

5 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures SCANNING FINGER FOR ELECTROMECHANICAL PUNCHCARD SCANNER The present invention relates to a scanning finger forelectromechanical punch card scanners, which scanning finger incooperation with apassing punch card actuates as associated stationarymicro switch by contact with a button on said switch.

Various scanning fingers are known but all of them have the disadvantagethat they need readjustment due to wear or deformation after some time.The working stroke of the switch button is often very small, e.g.approximately 1 mm, and the known fingers thus need a most accurateadjustment to give the finger in cooperation with the passing punch carda stroke large enough to actuate the switch, but not large enough todeform or wedge any of the parts.

Scanning fingers needing constant inspection and readjustment and evenreplacement of parts, however, are unsuitable in a controlling apparatuscontrolling important production processes. If the scanning finger failsto function correctly, machinery as well as material to be processedmight be badly damaged in addition to the resulting loss pf production.

The object of the invention is thus to provide a scanning fingersecuring an especially safe actuation to the micro switch for a longtime without any need of readjustment.

This object is achieved according to the invention by a scanning fingerof the above mentioned kind which is characterized in that the rigidfinger member is pro vided with a resilient element which upon movementof the finger member is brought into contact with the switch button foractuation of said button at the sarrle time as the resilient element isdeformed to some extent.

Due to the resilient element being deformed to some extent whenactuating the switch, the finger will thus not perform a well definedworking stroke but adapts itself to the working stroke of the microswitch. This adaptability secures actuation of the switch even afterlong use and wear, since inaccuracies which would otherwise causefailure, are compensated for by the adaption of the resilient element.

Further objects and features of the present invention will appear fromthe following description of an embodiment shown in the drawings, whereFIG. I shows an elevation of a scanning finger according to theinvention,

FIG. 2 shows an elevation of the rigid finger portion according to FIG.1, and

FIG. 3 shows a section along theline the line A in FIG. 1 in a largerscale.

According to this preferred embodiment the scanning finger comprises arigid, plate shaped finger member l, which is provided with a projection2 for scanning punch cards and a hole 3 in its other end so as to bepivoted in a stationary frame or the like. The finger member may e.g. bemanufactured by blanking out of a sheet material e.g. of metal.

A rigid arm 4 is pivoted in the rigid member and provided with anelongated recess wherein the finger member lies. Said arm 4 is pivotedto the finger member 1 by the aid of a through pin 5. In the presentcase the arm 4 thus has the shape of a two-armed lever. Said arm maypreferably be manufactured by injection moulding of plastic.

In one end the arm 4 has a projection 6. Between said projection whichis provided with a lug (not shown), and a recess 7 in the finger memberhaving a lug 8 a helical spring 9 is arranged and controlled by saidlugs.

The projection 6 is provided with a head 10 on top. When the finger isactivated said head 10 is brought in contact with and will push in thebutton of a micro switch not shown).

The other end of the arm 4 is provided with a projection 11 with athrough setscrew 12 serving for adjustment of the inclination of the armrelative to the finger member, or the distance of the head 10 from themicro switch button respectively.

As indicated in FIG. 2, there are two sets of recesses (7,8,5',7,8, and5") for the desired arrangement of the arm in one of two positions onthe finger member, as seen in the longitudinal direction of the fingermember. Due to this arrangement it is possible to provide two series ofmicro switches, the breadth of the micro switch being larger than thetotal breadth of the scanning finger but smaller than the breadth of twoscanning fingers.

The shown and preferred embodiment represents an especially simple,inexpensive and reliable solution, where any normal wear of deformationof the scanning system is compensated for due to the fact that the arm 4is pivotal relative to the finger member 5 against a spring forceproduced by the spring 9. When the scanning system is mounted, anadjustment is made by the aid of the set screw 12. Further adjustment issuperfluous for the reasons mentioned above. The scanning fingeraccording to the invention has been subjected to tests corresponding toapproximately 60 years of usage without any we'ar worth mentioning beingformed. Failure did not occur.

Even though the scanning finger according to the preferred embodimentconsists of a rigid finger member and a rigid arm pivoted on said fingermember with a tensioned spring arranged between said members, it isobviously within the scope of the present invention to shape thescanning finger in various manners, the essential feature of theinvention being that the rigid finger is provided with a resilientelement causing the actuation of the switch.

I claim:

1. A scanning finger pivotable from a supporting frame for sensingirregularities in an irregular surface and for moving a switch arm inresponse thereto, the position of said switch arm being dependent on theangular position of said scanning finger with respect to said frame asdetermined by said irregularities, said scanning finger comprising arigid finger member which is pivotable on said supporting frame andwhich has a sensing projection for riding over said irregular surface, arigid arm carried by and pivotable on said finger member, an actuatinghead on said rigid arm for contacting and moving said switch arm, andspring means acting between said finger member and said rigid armresiliently in a direction to urge said actuating head against saidswitch arm when said sensing projection is disposed on a raised portionof said irregular surface, said spring means being progressivelydeflected as one of said irregularities causes said switch arm to movedownwardly from said raised portion.

2. The scanning finger of claim 1, comprising adjustable means forlimiting the maximum angle of pivot of said rigid arm with respect tosaid rigid finger member,

said adjustable means being accessible to adjustment when said irregularsurface is positioned to engage said sensing projection.

3. An assembly of two adjacent scanning fingers according to claim 1 inwhich each said finger member comprises at least two pivot means eachadapted to enable pivoting of said arm relative to said finger member,each said finger member also comprising at least two spring-retainingmeans each corresponding to a different one of said pivot means andpositioned at the same distance from its corresponding pivot means, saidspring means on one finger being retained between said arm and saidfinger member by one of said springretaining means and said arm beingpivotally supported on said finger member by the corresponding one ofsaid pivot means, said spring means on the other finger being retainedbetween said arm and said finger member by the other of saidspring-retaining means and said other arm being pivotably supported onsaid finger member by the other of said pivot means, whereby said armsare pivotably and resiliently mounted to permit smaller lateral spacingbetween said adjacent scanning fingers in said assembly than the widthof the switch arms contacted by the heads of said finger assembly.

4. A scanning finger for an electromechanical punched card scanner, saidscanning finger being pivotably mounted in cooperative relation with apassing punched card to actuate an associated stationary microswitch bycontactwith a button on the said switch, comprising a rigid fingermember and an adjustable resilient element mounted thereon which, uponmovement of the finger member onto said punched card, is

brought into contact with the said switch button and pushes it so as toactuate the said switch simultaneously with the resilient element beingmoved to a small extent about its point of pivot in an oppositedirection relative to the movement of said button; said resilientelement comprising a rigid arm pivoted on said rigid finger member, atensioned spring member arranged between said finger member and said armand a set-screw engaging said rigid arm and bearing against said fingermember to limit the angular displacement of said arm with respect tosaid finger member, said set-screw providing for adjustment of the exactactuation of said microswitch upon a given displacement of the scanningfinger by a punched card.

5. A scanning finger according to claim 4, characterized in that saidrigid arm is a two-armed lever, said spring member being mounted at theone end and said set-screw at the other end of said lever, said rigidarm being pivotable relative to said rigid finger member about either oftwo possible positions on the said finger member, said finger memberbeing provided with two mutually displaced and identical sets of lugsand holes, each set consisting of one lug and one hole and each setcorresponding to one single set on the rigid arm, the latter setconsisting of one lug and a hole through said arm, each of said holesproviding space for a pin mean to provide for the pivoting of said armrelative to said rigid finger member, and said lug on said arm andeither one of said two lugs on said finger member providing for thesecuring of said helical spring.

1. A scanning finger pivotable from a supporting frame for sensingirregularities in an irregular surface and for moving a switch arm inresponse thereto, the position of said switch arm being dependent on theangular position of said scanning finger with respect to said frame asdetermined by said irregularities, said scanning finger comprising arigid finger member which is pivotable on said supporting frame andwhich has a sensing projection for riding over said irregular surface, arigid arm carried by and pivotable on said finger member, an actuatinghead on said rigid arm for contacting and moving said switch arm, andspring means acting between said finger member and said rigid armresiliently in a direction to urge said actuating head against saidswitch arm when said sensing projection is disposed on a raised portionof said irregular surface, said spring means being progressivelydeflected as one of said irregularities causes said switch arm to movedownwardly from said raised portion.
 2. The scanning finger of claim 1,comprising adjustable means for limiting the maximum angle of pivot ofsaid rigid arm with respect to said rigid finger member, said adjustablemeans being accessible to adjustment when said irregular surface ispositioned to engage said sensing projection.
 3. An assembly of twoadjacent scanning fingers according to claim 1 in which each said fingermember comprises at least two pivot means each adapted to enablepivoting of said arm relative to said finger member, each said fingermember also comprising at least two spring-retaining means eachcorresponding to a different one of said pivot means and positioned atthe same distance from its corresponding pivot means, said spring meanson one finger being retained between said arm and said finger member byone of said spring-retaining means and said arm being Pivotallysupported on said finger member by the corresponding one of said pivotmeans, said spring means on the other finger being retained between saidarm and said finger member by the other of said spring-retaining meansand said other arm being pivotably supported on said finger member bythe other of said pivot means, whereby said arms are pivotably andresiliently mounted to permit smaller lateral spacing between saidadjacent scanning fingers in said assembly than the width of the switcharms contacted by the heads of said finger assembly.
 4. A scanningfinger for an electromechanical punched card scanner, said scanningfinger being pivotably mounted in cooperative relation with a passingpunched card to actuate an associated stationary microswitch by contactwith a button on the said switch, comprising a rigid finger member andan adjustable resilient element mounted thereon which, upon movement ofthe finger member onto said punched card, is brought into contact withthe said switch button and pushes it so as to actuate the said switchsimultaneously with the resilient element being moved to a small extentabout its point of pivot in an opposite direction relative to themovement of said button; said resilient element comprising a rigid armpivoted on said rigid finger member, a tensioned spring member arrangedbetween said finger member and said arm and a set-screw engaging saidrigid arm and bearing against said finger member to limit the angulardisplacement of said arm with respect to said finger member, saidset-screw providing for adjustment of the exact actuation of saidmicroswitch upon a given displacement of the scanning finger by apunched card.
 5. A scanning finger according to claim 4, characterizedin that said rigid arm is a two-armed lever, said spring member beingmounted at the one end and said set-screw at the other end of saidlever, said rigid arm being pivotable relative to said rigid fingermember about either of two possible positions on the said finger member,said finger member being provided with two mutually displaced andidentical sets of lugs and holes, each set consisting of one lug and onehole and each set corresponding to one single set on the rigid arm, thelatter set consisting of one lug and a hole through said arm, each ofsaid holes providing space for a pin mean to provide for the pivoting ofsaid arm relative to said rigid finger member, and said lug on said armand either one of said two lugs on said finger member providing for thesecuring of said helical spring.